Pretty woman with no happy ending
The case of Berliner sexual Workers
They are outcasts of the society and their work is not officially legalized in numerous countries for instance in Italy. Therefore the gender research of Anna Stopazzolo from Padua focuses on the rights of the prostitutes. For her investigation Anna spoke with staff members of Hydra – an organization located in Berlin taking care for the awareness and rights of the sexual workers in Berlin.
Anna Stopazzolo has a master degree in “Politics of European Union” with a special focus on gender studies. Her master thesis written in Berlin during the last autumn was research project comparing gender policies in Berlin and Padua.
Gender mainstreaming is the topic of her interviews that she conducted with many experts in this field.
“When I wrote my thesis, I decided to focus it on Berlin´s Gender Policy, specially women-labor market and women-education.
I had to set a target of worker and it was a really hard decision…all examples were really expected and I would analyze a different target of worker….and at the end, I took about prostitute in Berlin.“
Prostitution is assumed to be the oldest profession in the world. Before 1800 BC in Mesopotamia prostitution was already know as a common job. Ever since then women have been working in the sex industry as prostitutes all over the world, even though it is illegal in most of the countries. So was it in Germany.
Since the 19th century until 2002 prostitution was officially strictly controlled or even prohibited in Germany. Before the WWII sexual workers had to be registered at state authorities. During the Nazi time in Germany this work was forbidden and many prostitutes were sent to concentration camps. After the war, Germany was split into two parts, in the East prostitution was forbidden and did not exist according to the authorities, as in all of the communist countries of the communist Eastern Block. The west however, was much more liberal and prostitution was allowed if registered.
„In the societies all around the world respect for each other is fundamental, people are free to choose the job, sexual orientation and color of hair…It´s our duty to respect such decisions and give support to avoid the social-exclusion!“
Thank you to Joanna Lesniak-a social worker of Hydra Berlin-for her interview with Anna.
Author: Anna Stopazzolo
Moderation by: Anna Stopazzolo and Milan Pol
